Shadow Cave by Angie West Read Free Book Online Page B

figured was as good as I was likely to get. He relaxed ever so slightly, his gun hand shifting over and down a fraction. I moved then , bringing the gun up and firing in one fluid motion. I had only fired a gun twice before , and both times had been more than eight years prior.
    Maybe I was lucky after all. The shot he fired at me before he went down in the grass was pitifully off the mark, slamming instead into the shed directly behind me. I struggled clumsily to my feet from a half crouch and peered over at him. He was lying on the ground and very still. I couldn ’ t tell where I had hit him ; it was too dark to see that much. Yet from my vantage point I could see his gun was still cradled loosely in his hand. It never occurred to me to disarm him. I raced to the oak tree, jumped over the first man on the ground, grabbed the box and ran.
    ***
    I drove first to a gas station. That was probably stupid considering it was maybe five blocks from my house. I bought a pack of cigarettes. The clerk kept staring at me suspiciously and I looked down, almost expecting to see blood on my hands and clothing. What I saw instead was a pale woman dressed from head to toe in black and covered in leaves and dirt. Well, at least it wasn ’ t blood , I comforted myself as I drove down the highway toward the airport.
    I chain smoked for the better part of two hours as I drove. If it hadn ’ t been for the headache and the nausea that were creeping in, I would have continued to smoke. But I knew I couldn ’ t vomit and drive at the same time, so I tossed the pack and the lighter into the backseat — just in case I was tempted again. Smoking was not a part of my normal daily routine . I was what my sister referred to as ‘ one lucky bitch . ’ When I wanted a cigarette I bought a pack. Usually one would do and I would end up tossing the pack a year later when I found it during a cleaning jag. Megan had been through three different programs over a four - year period in order to kick the habit.
    Smoking and drinking just weren ’ t things that I normally thought about. I had seen enough people trying to quit, though, and I realized how rare and fortunate I was to have never succumbed to the addiction. Tonight, though… if there was ever a time for it , this was probably it , I thought as I tightened my hands on the wheel and stared straight ahead.
    I should have been tired, but I was too wired to even think about sleep. Besides that, it would take me another three hours to reach the airport I was speeding toward. There were closer ones , but this was the only one that had the flight I needed without a billion transfers. There would be only one. This airport also had the soonest departure time. It would be close, but my flight left in five hours. That gave me time to park, walk, walk some more, and buy my ticket. If my lucky streak holds I might even be able to eat something a little more substantial than a gas station hotdog and a Payday bar , I thought with a sigh. You can only forget about food for so long. Not that it was usually a problem for me. It took a lot to disrupt my rhythm.
    I zoned out for the next half hour, listening to the background noise of the car radio ...some radio show I had never heard before where people were calling in to talk about their problems and request a song. I didn ’ t pay much attention to the songs, but there ’ s something perversely comforting about listening to other peoples troubles. True, most of them were about people ’ s love lives. But I think that made it better somehow. All I could think was that I had probably killed two people in my back yard. The scene kept playing over like a loop in my mind as I sped along the black pavement. It was like being locked in a dark room with my private thoughts and trying in vain to outrun them. Self defense or not, I didn ’ t think I would soon forget what it felt like to viciously attack another human being. Damn, why did I throw that pack of